Lua
by MintyfurxEagleclaw
Summary: Lua is a young wolf who was taken away from her pack as a cub. She has no knowing of her brother, Kobi, or how they were separated. This mysterious place is full of secrets, some that Lua wouldn't even expect.


The only thing Lua knew of was the cold world of the Wild. She remembered nothing of her childhood as a cub, or the Journey from far away in the distant mountains.. She knew not of her brother, Kari, who had been taken as a pup. All she knew was that her world was huge and dismal.

Lua shook her head. Trying to remember her youth was like finding a needle in a haystack.

_Pointless, _Lua thought. _I can't even remember my mother's name!_

Lua had been lived in peaceful Canada wilderness for her childhood. One day, when she was playing in the field with Kari, two smoke-colored figures had emerged from the forest. Lua had been too afraid to run, or do anything for the matter, and had been taken. For many days she had ridden in a small box, until she arrived at Yellowstone National Park (she didn't know the name, of course).

She had watched other members of the pack hunt before, so she attempted. A few times she had manages to kill a deer, twice she had gotten a coyote. Most of the time, however, she was bone-tired and hungry. It was the hunger that drove her mad, running hours on end until it burned.

That was when she met Elia and Rilak, her companions.

For months they wandered together, aimlessly, but together. But together wasn't strong.

Not strong enough for what they were to face.

"Catch anything good," asked Elia, "I'm starving!"

"Not yet," Replied Rilak. Lua sniffed the air.

"Hey, there might be a har-"Lua couldn't finish her sentence, Elia and Rilak had smelled it too.

"Shhh," Growled Rilak, but he didn't growl louder than his belly. Cautiously, Rilak stalked in on the hare from the north, Lua from the east, and Elia from the southwest, blocking the hare's escape. A shift in wind gave Rilak away, and the hare escaped from his claws. Lua was quick, however, and snatched in her claws and sank in her teeth. She mumbled a small thanks to Alae, the Wolf God, and began to rip it up.

"A leg for you, some flesh for you and the other leg for me." Elia's mouth drooled for the first morsel in two days.

Lua knew they were getting older, and soon enough she would have to make the journey. The journey where she brought her pups to a safer den spot, however, it was a long dangerous time period where many things could potentially injure, or worse, kill her cubs. Lua shook her head, trying to prevent bad thoughts. _That's a long time away! No need to think about it now._

"Who knows if I ever WILL have pups," Lua mumbled out loud.

"Huh?"

Lua was shook from her thoughts by Rilak's rough tone. They were all slowly starving to death, and Elia was already becoming sick.

Lua dipped her head in reply. "Nothing," she told him. "Just forget it."

After about two weeks, Elia could bear it no longer. The heat, hunger, and fatigue drove Elia to madness. She never spoke, but often grunted. Elia never ate, slept, or drank, and, to Lua's despair, perished in the hot sun. Nothing was ever the same.

The days following were hard on both of them.

"Without Elia," Rilak commented as he dug into his meal of a half of rabbit, "there's more for us."

Lua turned away. Elia had been the first member of the pack, and her agility was vital to survival. Not only that, but they had become close, like littermates. Rilak noticed her sorrow and dipped his muzzle.

Lua gazed up at the stars and howled, "What do you need before you will stop the sadness and grief? What else do you desire to take from me? I have nothing left to give, and nothing left to lose! When will you see that?"

The stars flickered for a moment, then returned to normal again. Rilak abandoned his half-eaten rabbit and padded over to Lua. "They do as they please. That's the cycle of life."

"But what have I done to deserve this pain?"

"The pain is their way of saying something."

"But what? What could death mean?"

"You'll have to fund that out yourself." And with those words haging in the evening air, Rilak pushed his way through the bushes and out of sight.


End file.
